Master Wraith
The Master Wraith (aka Boss Wraith) is the most powerful of the Wraiths in Mordavia. It is encountered at night in Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness, by traveling five screens south from the Cemetery. It is apparently the spirit of Gregor (killed by wildlife/monsters, murdered by brigands or thieves, or suicide its never revealed). According to the QFG4 Hintbook the ritual was hidden away in the barrow, and guarded over by the Wraith (how Tatiana came to take the ritual from the hoard in the Wizard's universe is not clear). Background At the time Last Boyar the took over the cult, following the Mad Monk's final orders (before his death), the Borgov concealed copies of the rituals throughout the land, retaining the only copy of the Essence Ritual himself.QFG4 Hintbook, pg The Heart Ritual was given to one of the Dark One Cult members named Gregor to guard over for safe keeping, but he had gone missing in the forest, and was presumed dead by his fellow monks.Narrator (QFG4): "And the Heart Ritual shall be given to someone named Gregor for safe keeping. There is another note on this page in another's handwriting -- "Gregor is missing in the forest and probably dead -- yet where is the Heart Ritual?"QFGTASG, pg 343: "The Heart ritual was supposed to be guarded by someone named Gregor, but a note added later to the Diary said that Gregor was missing, and that the ritual was nowhere to be found." It is also revealed later that the heart ritual was hidden in a Barrow Wraith's mound, and guarded over by the Wraith.QFG4 Hintbook, pg Though the exact identity of the wraith is not clear (it seems to strongly be implied to be Gregor himself). Not long after this Borgov with the cult went to a cave to summon the Dark One, Avoozl. A Paladin, Piotyr, Erana, and an army of soldiers learning of these plans confronted the Cult there and stopped the summoning before it could be completed... But failed to seal Avoozl away completely. His darkness began to spread across the land, corrupting it. It is said that the Wraiths along with many of the other monsters appeared after the Cult of the Dark One summoned Avoozl and brought darkness to the land.Hero Journal, pg "Since the days when the Cult of Amon Tillado first raised dark powers above the Land of Mordavia, the area has been overrun with hideous hordes of aberrant abominations. This actually makes it easy to recommend a strategy for dealing with Mordavian monsters -- stay out of Mordavia! So presumably this is the point where now dead Gregor started haunting over the barrow where he had hidden the Heart Ritual, before he died. Piotyr learned that Erana's soul had been trapped between worlds, and attempted to locate the rituals of summoning. One night, Piotyr had a dream about Erana. He knew that her spirit was trapped between worlds. Only by casting all the rituals to summon Avoozl could Erana be free and the gate between worlds closed forever. One week before he and Magda were to be wed, he learned where one of the rituals was hidden. It was guarded by a powerful Wraith. In the terrible battle with the Wraith, Piotyr was killed.QFG4 Hintbook pg Many decades later, the Hero (Devon Aidendale) found himself wandering in the forest somewhere south of the cemetery. He felt, and then saw, the Wraith mound and prepared for battle. It was an incredibly tough battle. He was forced to retreat away from the Wraith after a while to rest and recover his health with a Healing potion. Even so, he was nearly defeated. Examining the mound afterward, he found some treasure.QFGTASG, pg 346 Multiverse There are a number of different ways that the Hero encountered the Wraith depending on which class they were in multiverse. In the Paladin universe the Paladin Piotyr fought the Wraith in his search for the Dark One Rituals, and was slain. The Master Wraith took Piotyr's Sword and added it his collection of treasure. The Paladin Hero (Devon Aidendale) many years later is told about the Wraith from the Ghost of Piotyr. The Hero defeated the Master Wraith and recovers Piotyr's sword. In the fighter universe the Wraith not only killed Piotyr, but must have killed a warrior and took his Battle Axe (perhaps one of the rare adventures who visited before the Hero came as stated in the Hero Magazine, and referenced by Dmitri and a few others). The location of the sword is not known. In the thief universe, while Piotyr had been killed by the Wraith, the hero finds only the treasure and the Heart Ritual. The location of the sword is not known. In the wizard universe like the rest Piotyr was sent to the mound by Erana's spirit to look for Heart Ritual hidden there and is killed. Some time later Tatiana came to Mordavia in an attempt to try to take the staff from the town and is repelled. She spends years researching the Ritual of Release and finding someone who can use it for her. It was during this time she discovered the mound and took the heart ritual from the Wraith MoundQFG4 Hintbook pg though the Wraith itself was left unscathed. Like the thief and fighter paths the location of Piotyr's sword is not known. Wraith Mound Every character finds 150 gold Crowns. The Fighter gets a Battle Axe and the Heart Ritual. The Thief finds 150 gold Crowns and the Heart Ritual. The Paladin gets Piotyr's Sword (aka magical sword) and the Heart Ritual. The Magic User finds only 150 gold Crowns. Strategy Behind the scenes While Piotyr was apparently killed by the wraith in all universes it is not known what happened to his sword in the other universes.. His sword does not appear in the hoard in either the Fighter, Wizard or Thief's universes. In the Wizard's universe the wraith does not have the Heart Ritual at the time of the story, instead Tatiana was now in possession of it (though its not explained how she obtained it). According to QFG4 Hintbook it originally had been hidden and guarded over by the Wraith and that Piotyr had gone there in search of it and that is where he died. Tatiana came to Mordavia later in order to take the staff which Piotyr had left behind, but was repelled by the staff guarding the town, and she researched into the Ritual of Release. It was after Piotyr's death that she 'found' the ritual (but the specifics of this is not given). In hindsight (24 years after) Corey Cole has stated that he believes that the Tatiana always had the Heart Ritual (and it was never under guard by the Wraith), but this overlooks the details of the story that specifically state that Gregor was said have had the Heart Ritual in the first place (see Mad Monk's journal inside the monastery). Infact most of the story about Piotyr heading off in search of the ritual also appears in the game in all four paths and told by other characters and descriptions; Adventurer's logbook, Innkeeper, Dmitri himself (though only the Paladin can discover the conclusion to the tale). Other related important details is that 'no survivors' returned to town (this includes any of the soldiers who deserted and ran off cowardly from the mutated Chernovy who either were killed in the woods or left Mordavia entirely). The writing in the diary was written when the cultists were still human back when Amon Tillado was alive (minus a single entry in another handwriting likely Borgov discussing Gregor's disappearance). All cultists left town and were mutated in the battle at the Dark One's Cave. All cultists, including the cultists who guarded Mad Monk's tomb were transformed when the dark magic was released during the war (the mad monk incidentally died many years before the war, and Last Borgov took over as high priest). They couldn't have returned to town as they would have been seen as 'survivors' but more likely as monsters, and the Staff's protection around the town would have prevented them from returning. Also if the Wraith had never had the ritual in the Wizard's universe Piotyr being lead there in search of the ritual would have proven ultimately pointless if it had not been in the barrow in the first place. Plus it would have made Erana a liar as she was the one who directed him to the barrow in the first place. Not to mention any other particular time line issues it creates going against Tatiana's reason for coming to the town in the first place (which required both Gregor and Piotyr to be dead already). For a thorough discussion of QFG4 specific timeline see Mordavia History of Events: A Time Line. References Category:Undead Category:Monsters Category:Characters (QFG4) Category:Wraiths